Sword makes Patriots Day march, again

Monday

Apr 21, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 21, 2008 at 9:19 PM

Marching two abreast with their muskets at their shoulders, about two dozen uniformed members of the Acton Minutemen strode through the streets Monday morning on their way to the Old North Bridge in Concord to reenact the battle that kick-started the American Revolution.

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Christian Schiavone

Marching two abreast with their muskets at their shoulders, about two dozen uniformed members of the Acton Minutemen strode through the streets Monday morning on their way to the Old North Bridge in Concord to reenact the battle that kick-started the American Revolution.

But the true star of the show was up front.

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While the Patriots Day re-enactment of the fateful march was started 51 years ago by a group of local Boy Scouts, this year’s march marked the first year that Minutemen were able to bring the sword carried to the battle by Capt. Isaac Davis. Davis was killed in the battle shortly after.

Steve Crosby, a major in the Acton Minutemen, was charged with carrying the fragile sword over the trail.

“It’s an honor,” said Crosby, cradling the 22-inch sword in his white-gloved hands. “It’s special knowing what he did the last time [the sword] was carried. Out of that came all of this.”

Crosby, a former Acton resident who now lives in Newburyport, has participated in the annual march for the last seven years.

Known as a short sword, Davis’ weapon was designed for ceremonial purposes and to command troops rather than for actual combat. Its blade is decorated with intricately etched scrollwork. What happened to the sword following Davis death remains largely a mystery until it was donated to the town of Concord.

In 1957, the sword was returned to Acton and where it lay in a glass case at the Memorial Library until Monday.

Organizers of the march had hoped to bring the sword along last year to mark the 50th anniversary of the sword’s return to Acton, but a heavy winds and rain kept the delicate relic inside.

The weather was so bad last Patriots Day that the Boxborough Minutemen, whose march joins the Acton Minutemen, cancelled their march.

Crosby said the Minutemen keep history in Acton and other towns alive.

“I hope that what we do inspires people to join local civic organizations to preserve history. That’s what it’s all about for us,” he said.

That sense of history has affected local residents bringing both old and new participants back for the annual march.

Almost every year, former Acton resident Ken Gould travels halfway across the country from his new home in Indianapolis to don his tricorner hat and carry his the length of the march.

“It’s part of my background. This kind of history becomes a part of your personality,” said Gould, a leather holster for his drumsticks slung over his shoulder. “I can’t describe how it feels to stand on North Bridge with a company of Acton Minutemen.”

Gould said he was happy to be back in Acton after skipping last year’s waterlogged march.

Dormitzer, whose sons joined the march as fifers two years ago, admitted to never being very interested in history classes in school, but jumped at a chance to participate in a real-life re-enactment of a critical historical event.

“The main thing is bringing history to life for people. It’s extraordinarily different from reading it in books,” he said.

Wearing carefully replicated tricorner hats, white uniforms and tan vests, the marched in step to the constant rat-tat-tat of the drummers past stone walls and farm houses, some of which stood during the original march 233 years ago. A contingent of baby strollers, parents wearing Red Sox hats and even a few dogs brought up the rear of the march.

“I think we have something unique that we’re able to do this in our town. A lot of places don’t have that kind of history,” said Matt Murphy, a John Swift Road resident, who walked the route with his family.

Marching down Strawberry Hill Road, the Acton Minutemen joined their counterparts from Boxborough on Barrett’s Mill Road. As the marchers approached the bridge, the sun finally broke through the heavy clouds erasing the last traces of the morning chill.

Just after 9 a.m., the Acton men took their place on the bridge and fired a three-shot volley engulfing the bridge in a cloud of smoke before marching off.

Christian Schiavone can be reached at 978-371-5743 or at cschiavo@cnc.com.